TVXQ Talks About Their Military Service And What They Learned From Being Apart

Yunho and Changmin of TVXQ, who have finally reunited, held the “TVXQ! ASIA PRESS TOUR” on August 21 to speak about their future plans.

During the press conference, they also talked about being freshly discharged from the military. In particular, Changmin said, “It hasn’t even been a week since I was discharged. As of yet, being in police uniform is more comfortable for me.”

Yunho said that Changmin has changed since being discharged. He said, “I think he became more manly in terms of outward appearance. I think he changed on the inside, too. He contacted me a lot while he was in the army, and I thought, ‘Wow, now Changmin is the one taking care of me.’ I was surprised.”

Changmin admitted, “I found it embarrassing before because it was just us two guys. During my service, I reflected a lot on that. I realized that I’d been such a harsh and cold dongsaeng to Yunho. I thought that I should be better to him. It’s only when I was apart from them that I realized the importance of family, friends, Yunho, and our fans. I’m going to be really good to Yunho from now on.”

Yunho agreed, “Because we were apart, I thought of him even more. They say that the person who’s with you wordlessly whether you’re tired, sick, or happy, is the person who’s most precious to you. Changmin is that existence for me. We will show you our bromance chemistry.”

They also told some stories about their military service. Yunho said that he found it hard it some ways because of his status as a celebrity. He said, “Because I was a celebrity, they did look at me in a different way. But I thought that if I was going to do it, I would do it properly. I became a special class soldier with the maximum points for soldiers over 25 years of age. When I got it, I felt a bit lonely. There was pressure on me, because everyone was watching.”

Changmin said he found it hard because he was training with those who were much younger. he said, “During training, they mark you based on how fast you can run a certain distance. I was thinking, ‘I shouldn’t overdo it,’ but then other soldiers who were 21 or 22 came up to me and said, ‘Do you think you can make it?’ I found those belittling comments difficult. I ended up placing fourth out of hundreds.”

However, Yunho reiterated that it was overall a good experience. He said, “I only have good memories from the army. The hardest part was reflecting about myself and talking to myself, but it was meaningful.”